#2983 "October Sunrise Thunderstorm"

 #2983 "October Sunrise Thunderstorm"
16 x 20 oils on canvas. 
Started 9 am on Sunday, November 2nd, 2025

Distant flashes from a cold frontal October thunderstorm were visible in the night sky, which was still very dark at 6 am. There had been no mention in the forecast, but the lightning was clear. The light was enough to wake me up, so I decided to get up and enjoy the show. It was then that I decided that the unusual sunrise colours and clouds needed to be interpreted in oils. Those rich rose, and golden hues would not last long - just minutes...

I charged right into the oils on these thunderstorms. Paintings #2981 "Singleton October Sunset on Summer" and #2982 "Singleton Sunset on the Ides of October" were not nearly completed and still very wet. But I needed to get these new colours down on a canvas.  I also needed to write down the many memories that flowed while I painted.

Meteorological overview from 6:40 am, Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025

Some very thoughtful people, like physicist Richard Feynman have some very refined techniques they employ to thoroughly learn about a subject. In summary, that approach goes something like the following.

"If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it". 

One can add "paint it" to that quote. The swirl of the brush with the accurate colours I witnessed revealed dynamics and structures that were not immediately obvious. I really got to know those October sunrise thunderstorms during this exercise. My goal was to communicate and share those insights through the textures and colours on the canvas. 

Richard Feynman also believed that “the world is much more interesting than any one discipline.” There is a big difference between knowing the name of something like "thunderstorm" and knowing the dynamics of a "cumulonimbus". That summarized my approach to meteorology in general, but also everything I experienced in nature. Understanding the physics of the structures in a conceptual model allows you to use that knowledge more broadly on another convective day. The process of immersing oneself in the environment allows one to sense and really appreciate what reality is, and maybe become a better plein air painter. 

I always strove to become a better teacher, too, even if that was not in my job description.  The goal was to learn about the heart and soul of science and the planet. So much so that I might be able to translate the complicated jargon and math of textbooks into simpler conceptual models that anyone with an interest might easily understand. This process takes much longer, but the effort is worthwhile.

One needs to quietly reflect to reach into those depths. The late sixties atmosphere in high school at the Brockville Collegiate and Vocational School, BCIVS, provided the luxury of time to do just that. BCIVS was a terrific opportunity to absorb knowledge and to participate in music and sports. I loved learning and excelled. 

The next opportunity for such reflection came during night shifts at the various weather centres across Canada, where I worked as a meteorologist. "Eureka" moments would often come after such contemplation. Thoughtful examination of the reality of hand-plotted weather maps and hard-copy satellite imagery was essential. The atmosphere could be understood and brought to life through imaginative mental conceptual models. I shared everything with my coworkers, and sometimes I was successful in lighting that flame in others. Good times. 

Thankfully, teaching and creating learning materials officially entered my job description after a 2004 competition and the ultimate educational opportunity at COMET in Boulder, Colorado. 

It was an absolutely wonderful and productive final decade for my official meteorological career - real science and service in the company of passionate professionals. Imagine creating 3D water vapour imagery and immersive virtual reality conceptual models that one could walk through! Many of my midnight-shift eureka moments were finally published, and I am blogging the rest as time permits. 

Richard Phillips Feynman 1918-1988

So there is the story of some unforecast, nocturnal cold frontal October thunderstorms and my simple philosophical foundation for a happy life. 

• Be voraciously curious, 
• Never stop learning,
• Remain passionately empathetically helpful,
• Surround yourself and family at all times with nature,
• Stand up strong and be counted for what is obviously right.
• Remain respectful, but always be cautiously skeptical of authority. Power can corrupt. 

Richard Feynman did all of these things and would be a wonderful role model for any generation. Feynman's quote to the right is intended with a positive slant to encourage the cultivation of the arts so that we might all better understand. The arts need to return to the educational system...

To be clear, the science that Richard Feynman exemplifies is under attack... and not just in the United States. Corporations profiting from fossil fuels are still very much in control. There has been no abatement of the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2982 "Singleton Sunset on the Ides of October"

#2982 "Singleton Sunset on the Ides of October"
16 x 20 oils on canvas
Started 9 am on Saturday, November 1st, 2025

The sunset colours were striking. One of the challenges would be to do those hues justice on canvas. The other trick would be to explain what the clouds were saying. Both the weather and the colours begged to be accurately depicted. 

The surface winds were light northerly in contrast to the southwesterly winds at the level of the altocumulus clouds. I watched the cloud masses drift toward the northeast, perpendicular to the leading edge. The virga precipitating from that deck of altocumulus clouds appeared to be heading northeast as well, but faster than the cloud! Can the wind below the cloud deck actually be faster than that moving the cloud? Strange! Meanwhile, the ice crystals wafting down from the cirrocumulus appeared to be drifting toward the south. How can we make any sense of this? I can explain.

I watched this sunset and can categorically confirm that the surface winds were light northerly. Singleton was within the cool northerly outflow of the ridge of high pressure on the cold side of an approaching warm front. 

Both layers of clouds were drifting toward me, propelled by southwesterly winds. The drift of the cloud masses toward the northeast confirms that a warm conveyor belt was approaching Singleton Lake. This was consistent with Singleton still being within the cold air. 

The following satellite images and the surface map summarize the meteorological situation. The water vapour imagery indicated that Singleton was under the anticyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt.  This information is crucial to understanding the clouds.  That sunset sky was full of illusions. 

For those of you who are interested to learn a bit more meteorology, the following graphics will guide your journey, starting with a description of the Warm Conveyor Belt Conceptual Model. The explanations of the conceptual models can be skipped if you wish to jump to the final graphic that details the reason behind the drift of the virga and the observed winds. 

The next step is to employ your Coriolis Hand to decipher the Deformation Zone Conceptual Model. The deformation zone is a divergent flow stretching clouds outward from the col that marks the centre of the contrasting circulations. My favourite conceptual model!

With this information, you can deduce the probable weather by knowing which companion of the Warm Conveyor Belt is overhead. This information will not be on any exam, so no worries!

Now that you are familiar with the concepts, the following graphic summarizes all of the information. 

Now, back to the specific meteorology displayed in the October sunset sky and the painting. Remember that the clouds are always right. We just need to be careful how they are interpreted. 

All of the evidence confirms that Singleton was under the anticyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt. That area, as described in more detail in the above graphic, is less likely to receive significant precipitation. Also note that the cirocumulus are organized into gravity waves perpendicular to the divergent flow in the atmospheric frame of reference. This could all be deduced without any of the satellite images, just by watching the drift of the cloud masses and individual cloud elements. Art and science actually do make sense. 

The virga illusions result from our non-inertial, rotating frame of reference. The clouds and virga are shaped by the relative winds solely within the atmospheric frame of reference.

How does one look at the relative winds and motions in the atmospheric frame of reference when we are stuck, spinning on the Earth? The average wind guiding a weather system will be in the same direction as the jet stream, only slower. Any motions perpendicular to the jet stream will certainly be the result of winds within the atmospheric frame of reference. These lateral motions will always be the result of a deformation zone. In this sunset, the altocumulus elements producing the virga had a pronounced motion to the left along the anticyclonic confluent asymptote of the deformation zone. 

Situational awareness is also a good place to start. For example, large Singleton storms typically form over the Gulf of Mexico and emerge from the southwest. Alberta Clippers approach from the west or northwest. Practice and ongoing weather watching will teach you everything you need to know?

Finally, here is the simpler, take-home message that anyone can apply. You just need to watch the clouds.

All lines are deformation zones. Deformation zones are typically perpendicular to the average wind. If the cloud along the deformation zone edge is shearing to the left as it approaches, the anticyclonic companion is approaching you. Cloud shearing to the right means that the cyclonic companion and more weather is on the way.  

The water level was probably as low as it would get. Autumn rains were due to arrive with synoptic-like weather systems similar to the one producing this sunset. The three rocky shoals, which are typically totally submerged, were still well-deserved islands. The swimming bear only surfaces in extreme drought. This was the first time in twenty years that we had seen that rock. We had witnessed numerous real swimming bears over the years, but not this boulder version. Every time we glance at the drought-stricken lake and that characteristic rock, we think it is a swimming bear. 

In a drought situation, any mention of precipitation will get everyone's attention. A meteorologist has to be very careful in using those terms. I recalled that we did not get much rain, if anything, from this system. That would be consistent with the anticyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt passing overhead. Now you know why...

The sunset beaver was typically punctual, and I included my friend in this painting exactly the way it appeared. There are normally two sunset beavers that paddle at sunset to our shoreline to harvest trees. It is nature. I do not interfere.   

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2981 "Singleton October Sunset on Summer"

#2981 "Singleton October Sunset on Summer"
20 x 16 oils on canvas.
Started at 10 am on Friday, October 31st, 2025

The chores were done, and it was time to enjoy the quiet of Singleton Lake on a summer-like evening. Sunset was fast approaching on Monday, October 6th. There was also a cold front on the way, and conditions would be very different in just 12 hours. 

The nearest point on Highway 15 was 7 kilometres away to the west, but the sounds of the traffic carried far under the developing radiational inversion. Cars and trucks were shifting gears in a frenzy to get to where they were going. The rumble of engines sometimes increased to a roar as they raced along. The speed limit is posted as 80 km/h, but apparently, motorists view that as merely a suggestion and not a law. Commuters typically whistle along at speeds in excess of 100 km/h. 

There were other sounds to hear. I much preferred the mooing cows and the "who cooks for you" question posed by the barred owls. The wail of the loons echoed across the lake. Mourning doves flocked to the shallow natural pool depression in the marble ridge for a bath. They would soon flock to their roost. The sunset beavers drew V-shaped wakes in the calm surface of the lake as they headed to harvest trees on our shoreline for midnight snacks. 

The wind picked up briefly just as the sun reached the western horizon and then quickly settled again. The redistribution of mass follows the sunset around the globe, but is probably noticed by very few. The last convective exhalation of the day rises weakly to be replaced by the strengthening cool downdraft gusts of night. The turbulence of the final gasps of a warm, sunny day, with the contrasting radiational cooling of sunset, can set the leaves rustling in a dizzy display for a few moments… then all is still and cool and calm. 

We refer to the last cool turbulence of the day as the "sunset whisper wind". We look for it daily. The trees on the waterfront and the rose bushes beside the sunroom are the best measuring devices. The rustling branches and leaves typically last only minutes. Even I can hear them.

The Hunter's full supermoon rose in the east as the sun set in the west. It was wonderful to see at least one bat darting around in the twilight, catching bugs. There were no bugs biting me as I sat quietly in the outside chairs. 

I had yet to touch a brush to canvas, but I needed to get this story down before I forgot all that I found inspiring. 

You might wonder why I go to such lengths to explain the motivation behind my art. Shouldn't you be spending more time painting? That is a very valid question, given the time and effort it requires to complete these blogs. I no longer have access to the rich, scientific data sources I enjoyed while with the Atmospheric Environment Service and then Environment Canada, so I must work with what I have time to find and cobble together. The answer is twofold. 

• Sharing the wonders of nature with others might prompt empathy for the beauties and mysteries of the world around us. Nature can be most beneficial for health and happiness in these crazy times. Caring could lead to action to help preserve nature and make us all better stewards of the land. 
• The effort also allows me to learn and relearn science that was once second nature for me when every day was filled with investigation into the wonders of weather and climate.  

These investigations could go deeper into the science with better data, but there is neither time nor need to turn these brush stroke exercises into rocket science. We can all learn from just watching the clouds. 

The patterns in the sunset sky told of one cold front. Those lines stretching perpendicular to their motion were deformation zones. Given that the October temperatures were in the mid-twenties Celsius, those lines in the sky had to be the portent of a cold front. Every line in the sky, including frontal boundaries are deformation zones - my favourite meteorological conceptual model. 

I had to look at the bigger picture of the water vapour image to discover the second and colder cold front. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2980 "Singleton Sunset Golden Hour Before the Showers"

#2980 "Singleton Sunset Golden Hour Before the Showers" 
16 x 20 oils on canvas
started at 9:15 am on Thursday, October 30th, 2025

It is not vital to understand the meteorology behind the sky of every painting. However, I find it interesting and like to share a bit of science as well as art. 

A quasistationary frontal system was draped west to east across the Great Lakes within the cold trough mentioned in #2979 "Singleton Sunrise Sunday September 14th".  Such a weather system must be weak without any significant vertical depth. If the air mass is convectively unstable, the fronts can trigger showers, which are always welcomed in a drought situation. 

Singleton Lake was barely on the cold, baroclinic side of the front at sunset. The warm sector was clear of clouds. A deck of clouds stretched along and to the north of the front. That is the sky I painted. The rich and warm colours on the western horizon caught my eye at 5:45 pm on that Friday evening in late September (September 26th, 2025). 

As I recall, the showers passed just to our north. We received no relief from the drought at Singleton. The rain was expected to miss us, given the west-to-east orientation of the front. 

The record-low water levels revealed some structures we had never seen before. I could walk across Jim Day Rapids and just get my feet wet. The three rocky shoals were bona fide islands and large enough to support trees. Most notable was a singular rock labelled as "4" in the following graphic. It reminded un os a swimming bear. We actually see quite a few swimming bears. 

The red chairs on our waterfront are well used. There is always something interesting to see and talk about. Of course, being Canadian, there is always the weather to talk about. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2979 "Singleton Sunrise Sunday September 14th"

#2979 "Singleton Sunrise Sunday September 14th"
16 x 20 oils on canvas started at
9:15 am on Thursday, October 30th, 2025

John Verburg took this picture of a beautiful sunrise, probably from very close to where he was standing to take the image recorded in #2976 "September Singleton Sunset over Point Paradise". This sunrise sky was viewed on Sunday, September 14th, 2025, at approximately 6:36 AM. I would not have seen this panoramic vista had it not been for my friend John. 

Our place on the eastern shore of Singleton Lake was dark. We try to not contribute to light pollution, so that's the way home looks at night, pretty much all of the time. Battery-operated LED candles provide all the light and ambiance that we need. Motion sensor lights flick on as needed when we move around outside in the dark. 

A weak cold front was on the way. The disorganized lines of altocumulus were Langmuir streaks overrunning the departing warm frontal surface. The deformation zone leading the cirrostratus was already far to the northeast. The cold upper trough was just digging deeper over eastern Ontario. The entire weather pattern may have been fairly weak, but the sky and the reflection were too beautiful not to record. 

The following graphic puts the painting into the weather context. Note how the water vapour and even the visible image are not very excited about the clouds overhead the yellow star, which locates Singleton Lake. The sky is much more vivid from the ground!

I painted the Langmuir Streaks following the direction of the warm conveyor belt - the labelled block arrows in the following graphic.

That flow delivers heat and moisture toward the poles, helping to keep the Earth's atmosphere in balance. It occurs through the entire depth of the atmosphere as depicted in the following graphic. 

Warm Conveyor Belt Conceptual Model with Layered Cloud and Multiple Deformation Zones

The linear deformation zone (DZ) is the leading edge of the warm conveyor belt. The DZ stretches perpendicularly to the direction of the flow drawn between the swirls generated by the flow itself. The deformation zone is actually a three-dimensional skin that encapsulates the warm air. The physics of water and ice encourage moisture to form into layers of cloud, so that the DZ skin is seen as DZ lines where those cloud layers intersect it. Nature and physics can be really quite beautiful. 

Your right hand is the Coriolis Hand in the Northern  Hemisphere. With your fingers following the curvature of the swirls, your thumb must point upward on the left flank (looking with the flow) and down on the right side. Your Corilois Hand can follow the "Croquet Hoop" that encircles the flow. The lower portion of the warm conveyor belt, "Croquet Hoop" occurs in the turbulent layer of air adjacent to the surface.  Every puff of wind must generate these vortices exactly like smoke rings.   

The following graphic summarizes the straight-line deformation zone in the Northern Hemisphere using your Coriolis Hand. The lines and swirls that shape clouds/moisture in the atmospheric frame of reference are nestled together in this conceptual model. All of the swirls must be the same magnitude to create a straight-line deformation zone, and it is a good example to start with. All you need is your Coriolis Hand and some time to watch the clouds move. We can practice using these concepts on another satellite view of the sunrise of September 14th. 

The Nighttime Microphysics RGB satellite image reveals subtle features in this situation that are invisible in the typical water vapour and visible satellite images included above. The complete nature of the sunrise on Sunday, September 14th, can now be fully understood using this product. The convex deformation zone occurs with the flow of the warm conveyor belt is stronger than that on the other side of the deformation zone. The system must move in the direction of that flow. Animation of the satellite image makes these motions obvious as doens watching the actual clouds from the ground. 

The graphic above uses a stroke of my paddle in a surface filled with duckweed to illustrate the creation of swirls and lines. The physics is the same in the sunrise atmosphere that I painted below. 

Nature inspires and continues to make sense when not much else does. It might take a few re-readings for some of the more subtle points described above to become clear. That's OK and only natural... 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#0879 "The Copse"

#0879  "The Copse"
11 x 14 (inches)
Started around 5 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2007.
Painting Place N43.95376 W79.74567.

This painting originates from the era of Watershed Farm, located on the 12th Concession of King Township, just west of Schomberg. That was home between 1993 and 2009... I loved that time and the friends we made in the country. We still have those wonderful memories, but I miss the friends.

Watershed Farm was at the very crest of the Oak Ridges Moraine. The front yard, including Kennifick Lake, drained through the famous Holland Marsh and then Lake Simcoe. The pond and stream behind the farmhouse connected with the Humber River and Lake Ontario. It was a natural paradise and a wonderful place to raise both pets and children. We planted trees and built bird houses throughout the 25 acres. We were even founding members of Art Society King. Life was very good!

Times change, and the development pressures were and remain intense. Paradise was continually threatened. Political maneuvering for highways, houses and profit came yearly under different "leaders" and "parties". The latest iteration of the Conservatives has been particularly ruthless. See Bill 5, the "Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025". 

Any reader of this bill would benefit from understanding "doublespeak", "word-smithing", "gobbledygook", and "bureaucratese". Hypocritically, this act does not pass any smell test. It repeals the Endangered Species Act, significantly alters several other environmental and heritage laws, raising concerns about its impact on First Nations' rights, environmental protections, and public consultation while ignoring Indigenous rights. Bill 5 is all about greed when Climate Change demands an immediate end to the release of carbon into the environment. Shame! 

But looking back, for twenty-plus years (1985-2009), I was able to paint around Schomberg and the beautiful farm fields of King Township. This particular "thicket of small trees or shrubs; a coppice" was on the southern flank of Watershed Farm. Tuesday, March 27th, 2007, was warm at 18 Celsius, and I had to paint in the shade. The bluebird sky was absolutely clear. I can’t take the sun anymore, so I set up in the shade. I rarely paint looking into the sun, but I placed a large tree between the golden orb and my eyes so this view was possible.

This was one of my favourite places to paint. The copse of trees, shadows and fallen fence create lines that I enjoy. The copse was composed of basswood and maple trees, all intertwined on the slope of the hill. The family Chesapeake loved this place as well. I spoke to her when I finished painting - it was a simple, spontaneous reflex. She had passed three years previously. I missed her greatly, and this painting was in her honour.

The weather turned dramatically as I finished stroking. A cold north wind blew in with overcast skies. I finished just in time!

Just a very small selection of the paintings and memories inspired by the Oak Ridges Moraine is included in the following collage. There are 270 paintings in the Oak Ridges Moraine and Watershed Farm Collection on Pixels. 

But the story of "The Copse", building bird houses and planting trees, does not end there. My artist friend Herbert Pryke was putting together a book of art inspired by the Oak Ridges Moraine. I applied to be part of that very worthy conservation effort. 

"Congratulations on being selected for the Oak Ridges Moraine Book -I loved your work and I chose both the autumn scene (879-this one) and the winter fence (0610) scene ... the works really stood out, especially the colour in THE spring scene ... the use of brushstroke and composition in both with horizon line near top were very engaging. " Christine A. Lynett, Manager, Programs, McMichael Canadian Art Collection

"The Connecting with Nature, Oak Ridges Moraine" art book received the 2009 Moraine Hero Award for demonstrating remarkable efforts in protecting the Oak Ridges Moraine. Several other King artists were involved in this wonderful book that Herbert Pryke designed. Herbert had some of the paintings from the book at the ASK Soiree. There were also copies of the book available to buy. 

I recall that effort raised about $20k for conservation. Sadly, that is chump change for developers and politicians who routinely deal with millions or billions of dollars without blinking or seemingly thinking. Much, if not all, of that cash is Taxpayer money, but that is another sad story. 

The science and importance of the Oak Ridges Moraine are both well known and very clear. Unbridled greed and lack of empathy explain why the Earth and Nature have arrived at such a sorry and precariously existential state. Efforts to protect the Oak Ridges Moraine and countless other unique and vital landscapes continue around the globe. The same can be said for the Frontenac Arch Biosphere, which is our current and final home. We plant trees and build bird houses for that property as well. 

The pressures on unrestricted development and extraction of resources are high - apparently everywhere. We protect an important portion of the ecosystem right in the middle of the Frontenac  Arch. It is another natural paradise like Watershed Farm once was. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels , go straight to the Oak Ridges Moraine Collection, or to all of the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection for recent art. 

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#1279 "Singleton Marble"

#1279  "Singleton Marble"
16x20 inches oils on canvas
Started December 19th, 2012. 

2012 was a pivotal year for me. Our home moved to Singleton Lake, and officially, art became more important than science with my retirement from Environment Canada. Being a meteorologist, it is quite impossible to leave your laboratory. One can never forget about the weather and must continue to learn. Happily, I continued to contribute to science both with COMET and NOMEK until COVID came along in 2020. Acronyms can be humourous...

It has been 13 years since I was first inspired by the reflection of this monolithic rock on the south shore of Singleton Lake. I recently posted another painting #2975 "Morning Sunlight Fishermen" of the same rock that featured the marble face itself and not the reflection. The water level was higher in the autumn of 2012. 

The Frontenac Axis connects the northern Canadian Shield with the Adirondack region. It is an important biological corridor linking Adirondack Park with Algonquin Park. Singleton Lake is right in the middle of all of the action. We try to preserve this natural corridor the best we can within our little corner of paradise. Nature, like the weather, does not pay heed to any artificial geopolitical boundary. 

The marble ridges run northeast to southwest. Sedimentary limestone rock is transformed into marble by a lot of heat and/or pressure. The marble of the Frontenac Axis is commonly mistaken for granite. In fact, the entire region has been taken for granted. The rock forming the Grenville Mountains and the shores of Singleton Lake is about 1.2 billion years old. At one time, there was a lot of water and currents flowing around these marble ridges. The water level still fluctuates a lot, as revealed by the etchings on the rock. Currently, the water is the lowest that I and long-time residents have ever seen it.

The altocumulus gravity waves reflected in the water were an indicator of a low-pressure area and warm front on the way.

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick 

#2978 "Windy September Afternoon at Singleton"

 

#2978 "Windy September Afternoon at Singleton" 
16 X 20 and 3/4 profile (inches).
Started 1:00 pm Saturday, September 6th, 2025

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025, was a very windy day. A sharp cold front was crossing Lake Huron. The isobaric gradient in the warm sector ahead of that front was tightening up considerably as a result. The mild temperatures and the wind made it a pleasant time to sit in the red chairs by Jim Day Rapids and enjoy the passing clouds. It was 12 minutes after 4 pm, and "Happy Hour" had already begun when these particular clouds came into view. I spent a couple of hours just enjoying the wind and the weather with no biting bugs. 

Southwesterly Langmuir Streets of cumulus were aligned with those blustery winds. The spacing between these cloud lines is directly proportional to the height of the unstable air in the mixed layer of atmosphere adjacent to the Earth. These cloud streets get further apart as the convective instability in the air mass increases. The cloud tops also get colder as they reach higher in the atmosphere, so the spacing of the Langmuir Streets can also be related to cloud top temperature. This is easily witnessed on an Infrared satellite image. 

Of course, the science and meteorology need to get a little more complex to adequately explain the details of the clouds as seen from the surface and the satellite. There is always something to be learned and appreciated from watching nature. 

The scene in front of me was changing by the minute. My photographic inspiration could not capture even a small part of the nuances that I observed. White caps on the lake waxed and waned with the wind. The atmosphere moves in waves, and minutes of stronger winds were separated by relative lulls. The lake surface and white caps responded appropriately. 

The following image from another day illustrates gravity waves along a single Langmuir Streak. Surface winds decrease as "F"-E-D from wave peak to wave trough  (relative ascent) cross your location and then increase as the D-C-B portion of the gravity wave  (relative descent)  approaches. The descending air carries the momentum of the flow from above with it to the surface. 

The size and spacing of the backlit cumulus cloud elements also varied considerably. Larger cumuli were associated with the ascending portion of the atmospheric waves. Small clouds resided in the relative downdrafts of the wave pattern. The wave patterns could be seen in the cloud tops displayed in the satellite imagery.  

Severe convection was remotely possible along the approaching cold front further to the north. For Singleton, the cold front would just be a wind shift and the arrival of cooler Arctic air. 

The subtleties of nature can mostly be explained through science, but sometimes it is enough to simply observe and appreciate the beauty of everyday events. 

If the weather really wanted to communicate a threat to us, it might use Morse code. The universal distress signal "SOS" is a continuous sequence of three dots, three dashes, and three dots, with no spaces between the letters. The dash is three times longer than a dot. The size of the white cumulus clouds and white caps on the waves could be related to either an emergency dot or dash. I had some fun hiding "SOS" within my brush strokes. 

The following "in progress" images reveal a few of the steps I take with every painting.

The weather has actually been sending out obvious "SOS" signals for decades. Collectively, these emergency requests have been spelled out in the changing climate. Mindless denial of these truths by politicians and those who profit from the fossil fuel industries has squandered the past century, essential years required for meaningful action to avert this existential climate crisis. These deeds have been well documented. Shame. 

Nature is always right. Science, our understanding of the natural world has steadily improved since we crawled out of our caves. Human empathy and honesty need some serious work, though. 

Planting trees, building habitats and painting the living Earth is my simple way to try to make a difference. Observations of nature teach me something new every day, while I strive to keep my carbon footprint as small as possible. Even making chilli sauce can be a learning experience. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick